I n f l u e n c e
by alchemyxautomail
Summary: EdWin; set in an modern AU with a twist.   What she said echoed through their minds, constantly clouding their thoughts. A question that they'd asked so, so many times.  "Why should we have the power to influence people's lives?"
1. Chapter 1: Fury

I'm not sure where this came from, but I know I dreamt it up. Literally.  
I always seem to have the most inspiration when I'm half-asleep. And when I had this dream, I just had to write it.  
It's almost exactly as I dreamt it; I've changed a few small details, only a few, so the story makes sense, but other than that... Everything's the same.  
It's set in an alternate universe; like ours, except they have powers. And automail, thankfully.  
I really hope you enjoy this. I'm passionate about this story and my full effort is going to go into it.  
Obviously, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, but if I did, Ed and Winry would always be together, by each other's sides.

**_I n f l u e n c e_**

**_Chapter 1: Fury  
_**

_Cliché__ as I am, I'll dedicate each chapter to someone.  
This first chapter is for someone who is always a source of hope in my life.  
__Hi, Kiki!_

Winry never had alarming dreams. Or at least, she never thought she did.

It was Edward who always had the reason to mutter restlessly in his sleep. Sometimes he'd dream about the most ridiculous things, complaining about bats stealing his ice cream - a horrifying thought to him, his beloved food being taken away - but then there were the times when he'd wake up sweating, breath coming out in flurried pants and whines still echoing from this mouth.  
Those were the times when Winry would hold him, soothing his thoughts with hushed whispers until they both fell back into a dreamless sleep.

He had the most reason to dream such things. When you'd seen all that he had, it didn't take much for imagination to fuel subconscious, causing nightmares to bloom in one's mind. His automail arm and leg were a constant reminder of his past, haunting him wherever he went.  
But Winry? She'd lost a lot but not as much as him. Her eyes hadn't seen the things that his had. And for that, she was grateful, even if the fact that she couldn't understand was so frustrating.

That night, everything changed.

* * *

Her mind was a haze; she couldn't remember how long it'd taken her to get to sleep, but it hadn't been long. Only a few minutes, if that. She always slept best when she and Ed were cuddled up to each other, arms wrapped around each other in a constant embrace.

Splinters of memories flashed in front of her eyes. Her old dog, Den, finally closing his eyes for the last time. Coming home to find Pinako still, as lifeless as the chair she was slumped in. The terrible, heart-wrenching news that her parents had died of an unknown cause, a mystery never solved. All harsh stabs of pain that made her want to cry, made her want to wake up and cling to Edward for dear life.

She didn't.

Instead there were other images, ones she'd never seen before. They were dark and misty, blurred so she couldn't quite make out what was happening. Whispers making her mind seem heavy, confusing her thoughts because she couldn't, just couldn't catch what they were saying. A mirror hung in front of her, and she saw herself. She was Winry Rockbell, seventeen years old, long blonde hair hanging down to her waist and piercing blue eyes widened, her face as pale as snow; her expression the epitome of the pain in death itself.

The image changed and there was a room, a cold empty room, the wooden floor scuffed with age. More images came and went: two hands close together, one automail and one flesh, clenching and unclenching, strong chains wrapped round the wrists, binding; a blue china mug filled with brown liquid, freezing over and then breaking violently; a scream and a crash, and someone calling her name, over and over and over again...

"Winry! Winry! Winry, wake up!"

She woke up.

Blue eyes snapped open with a sharp gasp and Winry bolted upright, strands of hair stuck to her face and obstructing her view. The blankets from the bed were on the floor and a grip was settled on her arm, golden gaze hovering over her anxiously.

She clung to Ed and let the tears come, ignoring his questions and finally settling into his arms as her silent crying lulled her back into a false sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Winry had forgotten the dream; waking up to the blissful sound of her beloved sleeping left her calm and as soon as she'd gotten out of bed, she'd collected the pieces of herself together. What happened during the night was just a nightmare, nothing more.

When Ed had told her that she was trashing around she simply frowned, shaking her head. They didn't say anything more about it after that.

Instead, the day went on as it normally did; Winry made pancakes for breakfast so that Ed wouldn't try to get her back into bed again. The scientist went to work on his science stuff and the mechanic worked on her automail, tuning it to perfection. It was a normal day.

Except, for the couple, it was _never_ just a normal day.

It happened about mid-afternoon. Ed always needed coffee by then and it had become a custom for Winry to bring it to him, the pair of them having a chaste conversation about their day before sharing a kiss and going back to work.

But this time, it was different.

Winry knocked and opened the door, as usual, a steaming mug in her hand as she poked her head in, watching as her partner spun around in his chair to greet her, a gleeful grin on his face.

"I always look forwards to your coffee, you know..." He laughed and Winry rolled her eyes, pausing in the middle of the room to make him pout impatiently for the drink in her hand.

"The longer you wait, the better it'll be!" The blonde giggled as Ed finally gave up and leapt to his feet, beginning to march towards her with his hand outstretched for the blue mug in her hand-

... A crash outside made him stop.

It wasn't exactly a very loud crash but, as the pair looked out the office window, they could see what had happened. A young child had fallen off her bike, tears streaming down her cheeks whilst she clung to her mother, who was gazing at the old man in front of them with wide, taken back eyes; the man himself was yelling, waving his stick around threateningly in the air, shouting furiously about how stupid brats should be kept off the streets by their idiotic mothers, especially when it was a mistake to give birth to them in the first place.

Winry scowled, her fingers tightening around the handle of the cup in her hand. "It's that old man from across the road again..."

Beside her, Ed growled in agreement. The scene was over soon and the vicious old man had carried on his way, leaving the mother and child to hurry to their house, terrified expressions on both of their faces.

No-one knew the old man's name but they knew what he did. He targeted vunerable people, bullied and provoked them; and if they ever struck back, he called the police. Of course, everyone would believe an innocent old man over a younger thug, wouldn't they?  
But it was what he had said to Edward which made Winry so mad.

_"Killed your own mother, didn't you? Wanted the money! Bet you've killed your brother too, and that girl of yours is next, she's next to go!"_

Seeing the pain in Ed's eyes that day had bitten her heart; he'd turned away, walked up the path with his fists clenched and left the old man by the fence. Even though Winry had comforted him, told him to ignore the insults, that stupid man wasn't worth it; that night Ed had one of the worst nightmares he had ever had, and she knew what had caused it.

"I bet he knocked that kid off her bike on purpose, I've seen him before- he makes me so mad!" Winry shook her head frustratedly, feeling the anger well up in her chest. It built up and up until she finally ended up screaming, releasing it all in one final strike:

"HE DESERVES TO DIE AFTER ALL HE'S DONE!"

The mug in her hand grew cold and then exploded, sending frozen shards of coffee and china throughout the room, impaling in the wall through the force expelled; Ed stood, silent, moving forwards to catch the quivering girl as she fell, a small sob echoing from her lips.

"D...Did I..." Her unfinished murmur was muffled, burying her face in the white fabric of his shirt, but Ed still made sense of it, shaking his head in response.

"No... No, you never hurt me."

In the following silence, his gaze noticed the commotion outside; a small crowd hanging around the road, shocked gasps seeping through the walls of the house.

What Ed realised made him flinch.

He turned away, knowing that he would soon hear ambulance sirens, that the news would spread soon enough that the old man across the road, the one that everyone hated, had collapsed on the roadside, just as a car drove towards him and-

He was dead.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent silently. They didn't do anything, just lay there on the bed they slept in, occassionally giving each other gentle affection, nothing more.

Ed remembered the first time they'd discovered their powers, when they were nine years old. Her younger puppy Den had lost his leg, due to a freak accident. Only Ed and Winry knew the truth.

Winry had done it._ She was the freak accident. _

She'd shrieked after her dog had ruined one of her best dolls, torn one of her favourite dresses and trashed her room, all the while getting her into trouble. The unfairness made her want to scream, to shout out the building fury in her chest, and she'd done it all. In one strike.

"YOU DESERVE TO LOSE A LEG AFTER YOU'VE DONE ALL OF THIS, YOU DUMB DOG!"

She hadn't meant it. The anger came and went as soon as she'd said it. But what had happened next, she never forgot.

Ed was beside her as it happened, furious with the animal for making Winry get upset, his anger burning next to hers. The room had filled with red and then Den's leg had vanished, torn away into thin air and making the poor animal yelp with pain, collapsing.

Winry had never forgiven herself for it, no matter what Ed had said to her. They had both felt the power inside them, realising itself when Winry had screamed, becoming raw energy into the air. It had come true.

"It's a curse..." She had mumbled, tears streaking her cheeks whilst her hand lay clasped with his._ A curse._

After that, many things happened. So many things. Whenever they were angry at someone, it would happen. The anger would release as a kind of magic, almost, cursing whoever they'd deemed to do so. But Ed and Winry weren't the sort of people who revelled in power through darkness. They learnt to control themselves, so desperately, so quietly, that it had brought them closer together than ever. Together, they were one, calming the other and soothing the fury. Control._  
_

But fury is like fire and like ice; it burns when it grows too much, and when someone gets too close, it destroys them. Winry's anger had been growing for a long time, until it was uncontrollable.

It was that night when their gazes had joined, Winry's blue eyes full of so much pain and so much regret, that she came to terms with what she'd done. She'd spoke with so much pain and suffering that Ed had taken her into his arms, the pair of them rocking back and forth throughout the night with the horror washing through them in waves.  
What she said echoed through their minds, constantly clouding their thoughts. A question that they'd asked so, so many times.

_"Why should **we** have the power to influence people's lives?"_

_

* * *

_**AN: Just over 2000 words. I think I'm going to make each chapter this long. I'm not one for really long rambling chapters. I get to the point!**  
**Actually, none of this chapter was in my dream, from what I can remember. I just made this up to start the story off.**  
**I hope it's alright, and makes sense and what-not. I love people who review.  
Wondering how Ed lost his arm and his leg in this story? Find out in the next chapter of Influence!**


	2. Chapter 2: Disaster

**_I n f l u e n c e_**

**_Chapter 2: Disaster  
_**

_Chapter 2 is dedicated to Remi because she's bloody awesome._

_She still remembers his screams when she found him, lying there clutching his right arm and left leg.  
_

_"IT HURTS! I didn't mean it this way... I never meant..."_

_It was only later on that she found out what he'd said to make it this way. He'd cursed himself.  
_

_"Mum shouldn't have been the one. I deserved the pain. I deserve the pain..."  
_

"Let's get away from here."

The statement took Winry by surprise and for a moment, she could only stare at him after he came out with it.

Both her and Ed had lived with each other for years now, in their house in the middle of Central. It was convienent; Ed could do his scientific research and Winry could sell her automail. They'd been content for a long time, just together, the future a blur in their minds.

The thought of moving made her think, becoming so unusually quiet that Ed worriedly moved closer to her, nervousness filling his eyes.

Her blue met his gold. "Where would we go?" She asked as he stood near her, eventually just clasping his hands at her waist.

"Anywhere. Everywhere. We can travel, or just settle in the country... Resembool! Where we grew up! We can have a house and import food- no wait, we can _grow _our own food! ..." Ed's excited babble trailed off as he saw Winry looking worried, a frown coming across his features.

"You don't want to?" His almost-hurt tone made Winry start, glancing up at him with a glisten in her eyes.

"No no, it's not that! It's just... It seems like such a big thing to do..."

Her other half sighed and he took her hand into his, watching her fingers and playing with them carefully.

"We have enough money, left to us from our parents and from our jobs... And we don't need a mansion anyway. Just somewhere nice... but big enough for our kids to play in, and..." He stopped, noting her surprised flinch at the mention of children, glancing up hurriedly with a desperate glance.

"W-Winry... We need to get married. We... Will you marry me?"

His eyes searched hers for a reaction, his heart beating quicker in the silence.  
Her reply was as simple as the kiss she gave him, placing her hands on his cheeks and whispering, happy tears filling her eyes.

"Yes."

Ed never got to return the kiss.

Bewildered and with sudden panic flooding through their veins, the couple stood as the walls around them began to crumble, hit with what seemed like beams of light; then shock jolted Ed back to reality and he grabbed Winry's hand, pulling her out the back door as the whole house shook with the stress of the attack.

"WHAT'S GOING-" His yell was cut off as his hand was jerked from Winry's, some invisible force yanking her back through where they came - she flew through the house, images of the kitchen and other rooms whizzing in front of her eyes before she landed with a crack against the wall, tumbling down onto the couch and descending her into complete darkness.

* * *

When Winry woke up, her head was throbbing so much that she swore the pillow she was lying on kept moving with every beat.

Then she realised that the smell of disinfectant was filling her nose and jerked upright.

_She was in a hospital._

_... Ed._

"Ed!" The cry slipped through her before she'd even realised it and a large nurse with red curled hair was at her side immediately, tutting under her breath.

"Relax, dear, everything's fine!" She shoved Winry back against the bed before glancing down at the clipboard in her hands; Winry glanced at her name-tag, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"Right, I'm sorry... Miss. Clementine." The nurse seemed pleased at the sound of her own name being used, nodding as Winry carried on. "Where's Ed? Edward Elric? The person I was brought here with?"

The nurse's confused face sent shots of fear through Winry.

"Who, dear? You were the only one brought here, and no-one came here with you. We found you alone in the ruins of your house, right after that dreadful earthquake struck."

_Earthquake._

There was one thing that Winry was sure of, and it was that whatever happened, it wasn't an earthquake.

"Are you sure? He's got golden eyes, blonde hair..." She slumped back as the nurse shook her head, turning away from her.

"No-one like that here. Now just get some rest dear, you're probably confused." And with that, she bustled away.

Rest was one thing that Winry found that she did most certainly not need. Not at the moment. The thing she needed most was to see the screw to her automail piece, the other half of her life - Ed.

Sitting here in a hospital was really not going to help her find him.

She needed to escape.

It didn't take long for her to work out a plan. For one, they'd made it pretty easy; her clothes were folded on a chair by her bed, removed from arrival to the hospital and replaced with a plain green gown which she hated at once. All she needed to do was pretend she was a visitor and make her way out.

Luckily she wasn't hooked up to anything and so, once she had her normal clothes on, she was out the door of her hospital room, casually strolling past nurses and doctors as they conversed in medical babble. No-one even stopped her and as soon as she reached the sliding glass doors of the entrance, she ran and didn't look back, ignoring the shout of the security guard behind her.

The running helped calm her emotions; the pounding of her feet soothing her heart and reassuring herself that Ed was fine, he was strong, she'd see him again probably any minute now...

Upon spying their house, she froze, mind reeling.

_It was completely destroyed._

No wall was left standing. What had been the last few years of memories was now a pile of rubble.

And Ed was still no-where to be seen.

Slowly she approached, fighting back tears, making her way up the garden path and pausing where the front door should have been; a fluttering caught her eye and Winry leant forwards, catching a piece of paper in her hands.

It was a photo of her and Ed, happy grins both gracing their faces; it was the one time at a summer fair where Winry had managed to get ice cream on her cheek and Ed had kindly kissed - mostly licked - it off for her. His brother had got a snapshot of them both and framed it, giving it to the couple for Christmas one year.

It was a happy memory, where they were both content, forgetting everything else except each other. That's why she loved it.

But to see it tattered, out of it's usual frame, made her heart wrench out of place. A clink of metal against her hand made her turn the photo over- a jolt of shock going through her as she realised that it was written on, a strange handwriting that she didn't recognise at all.

_You won't be seeing him again. _

And there, underneath it, was a screw. A screw that she'd know anywhere.

It was one she'd put in herself. It was from Ed's automail.

Dots danced in front of her eyes and Winry fell to her knees, the tears finally overspilling with disbelief flooding her, the same sentence ran through her mind like a movie stuck on repeat.

_You won't be seeing him again. _

_You won't be seeing him again. _

**_You won't be seeing him again. _**

**_

* * *

_****Ahhh the wonderful fluff turned all angsty.  
WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO ED?  
WILL WINRY EVER FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO HER HOUSE AND HER BELOVED?  
ALL COMING IN THE NEXT CHAPTER OF INFLUENCE!**


	3. Chapter 3: Technical

**_I n f l u e n c e_**

**_Chapter 3: Technical  
_**

_Chapter 3 is dedicated to Remi because, well. What would I do without her?  
_

Ed couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so alone.

Even through all the rough times, there had been someone there beside him. His brother. His friends. Winry.

But now he had no-one. He was in complete darkness, a blindfold keeping his eyes void of all light, his hands tightly bound behind his back as he jolted about from movement. He assumed he was on the floor of a truck, moving to somewhere... but what for?

He couldn't even remember what had happened. The last image in his mind was Winry being torn away from him, and then only darkness. Since then, he hadn't heard or seen anything to tell him what was happening. His angered shouts were ignored, the only reply being the roll of tires and his own heartbeat.

It was the loneliest feeling in the world yet, the only thing he could think about was her.

_Winry._

He wanted to cry. But Edward Elric never cried. Not without her there, to hold him and comfort him and wipe away the tears. Yet the worry was so heartwrenching that he swore his soul was being ripped apart, at the thought of his Winry being hurt or- or- ...

No. He didn't want to think of it.

The thought of a world without her was unbareable. She _was _his world.

She was his soulmate, his other half, the missing piece to the jigsaw of his life.

And he wanted to feel her there beside him so bad that it hurt. It ached. It burned.

There was nothing he could do except wait.

* * *

_Crying isn't going to help anything, Winry._

She kept telling herself that. The tears kept coming.

The last time she had cried this much was when her parents had died, yet this time... it felt even worse.

She didn't even know if he was dead, or alive. And the only thing she could do, with the state she was in, was curl up and sob amongst the dust and rubble of the house that was once theirs.

A strange thought occured to her; _I'm like the house. I'm rubble. I've crumbled. I'm nothing anymore._

Then gold erupted in her mind and she heard his voice.

_"You're never nothing, Winry, don't say such a stupid thing."_

Hearing his voice made her bolt upright, mind reeling, eyes searching and hope rising in her chest- yet the only sight she found was the same as before. A darkened sky and a destroyed house. Empty of life except herself.

Her imagination was playing tricks on her, but for a good reason.

Winry stood up. Clenched her fists. Opened her eyes and looked at the sky.

If Ed was here, he'd be telling her that she was being stupid._ Keep moving forwards_, he'd say. _Never give up._

What was she without him? She was nothing. However, Winry Rockbell was never one to give up hope. She was one to give it, to provide it to others so they could stand on their feet once again and smile. Now she needed hope for herself, more than ever.

_She was going to find him, and until she saw his body for herself, she would never give up._

_

* * *

_

The night dragged into daylight as Winry lay there, half-heartedly staring at the screen as she waited for it to load. The last time she'd been alone in a hotel was years ago.

The hotel itself was nice. Comfortable. Cosy. It helped settle her thoughts, planning a map of what to do next in her mind.

She needed clues. Anything that could help her find out where Ed was.

The only place she could think to research was the internet.

Ed was always complaining about the web; moaning about how slow it was, full of viruses and other dangerous things, etc etc. But Winry enjoyed it, scrolling through pages about automail - she'd even made her own website once. In fact, she'd become somewhat of a computer technican, learning how to do things over the last couple of years when the internet had properly come to light; things that were useful and not many people knew.

She never knew how useful it would become.

Using the money in her bank account, she'd purchased a brand new laptop and sat there in the hotel's cafe, waiting for it to load whilst she idly sipped from her drink; then she searched more than she'd ever searched before.

Pages upon pages of babble about Ed's scientific research, scrolled in front of her eyes - she even found a shrine to him, created by seemingly helplessly-smitten fangirls, which made her eyebrows raise - until, she finally came across an email she'd managed to hack into, the words making her heart leap.

_Take him on 16th October and bring him to the site._

_Both targets are dangerously powerful, be warned._

_Don't let him clap his hands._

The 16th October had been just the day before, and- Ed would never clap his hands unless he needed to.

It was a power of his, ever since he'd lost his limbs. He could create a kind of energy with his bare hands, yet he hardly used it around anyone except her and their family.

This was it. It was what she needed.

Now all Winry had to do was reply to the address that it had been sent to, making herself sound convincing...

_Information tells me that you have Edward Elric. I wish to see him, to see him suffer. I can give you more information about his powers._

A fake email address was all she needed and as soon as she'd stopped her hands shaking, she sent it.

It only took a few minutes for a reply to come through.

_Your IP has been tracked. Wait outside the front door and we will find you._

Winry faintly smiled to herself, shutting the laptop's lid down and standing up, removing a hat and scarf from her bag. A relieved yet shaken feeling spread through her - it had worked, _she was going to see Ed _- yet she didn't believe this was the end of it. Something told her that it was going to take a lot more than technical knowledge to find him.

Heck, she didn't even know if she was going to be safe, if they had believed her. This had all seemed ridiculously... easy.

But she had to try. She had to wait.

* * *

**AN: I don't know if the ending seems a little weird... Yet this is set in an alternate universe. And letters are so cliche... Why not emails?**  
**Actually in my dream, it was Facebook but. This works better, I think...**

**And yes, in this story Winry is a technical whizz. Heh. That's how she was able to find this email, which was rather stupidly not protected by any security or anything at all. By who, though, you're wondering?  
**

**WHO WILL PICK WINRY UP? WILL SHE BE ABLE TO SEE HER ED AGAIN?**  
**NEXT CHAPTER OF INFLUENCE WILL TELL ALL ~**


	4. Chapter 4: Waiting

**_I n f l u e n c e_**

**_Chapter 4: Waiting  
_**

A lot of the time, she felt like there was nothing she could do except wait.

Like now, for instance; standing nervously outside a hotel, donned with a scarf and hat as she waited for the unknown. At every passing car she felt herself flinching internally.

_Is it them? The ones who have Ed?_

The intense rage inside of her was only soothed by the thought of seeing him again. How_ dare_ they take him away from her like this. How_ dare_ they leave her alone in this world, and tell her to forget part of herself. Because that's what he was. He owned her heart and, without him... She swore it would stop beating.

Memories of the kisses and the embraces and the comforting sound of his heartbeat and the soft touch of his hand... They were the only things keeping her from going insane.

_Hope._

It seemed like ages and by the time a large black car had pulled up, Winry was chilled to the bone. At first, the thought passed through her head that maybe this wasn't them, maybe it was just a person being dropped off- but that was until the doors opened and a pale hand beckoned her inside.

Slowly, she made her way into the unknown; a steeled pair of hands grabbed her from behind just as she scrambled into the car, a hand clamping over her mouth whilst she was blinded with a strip of cloth over her eyes. Vibrations shook the vehicle as the door slammed shut and the engine started up- they were on the move.

A low voice in her ear made her shudder.

"You're the one who sent the email, I presume?"

Winry shakily nodded and was promptly shoved onto a seat.

Now all that was left to do was wait.

The journey didn't take long and was completely silent. All she could hear was the car moving and the occassional scuffle beside her, as well as her own heartbeat thumping quicker and quicker as every second passed.

_Oh god. Why was she doing this? What was she going to do?_

A thought passed through her mind that maybe, just maybe she should have gotten help from someone else; Ed's old friends, or Al his brother- anyone.

But she didn't want to drag them into this. She didn't know who she was dealing with, and to see other people that she cared about in danger made her shudder even more.

Finally, the movement stopped and Winry felt herself being yanked from her seat and shoved out of the car, someone roughly scooping her body up in their arms and carrying her for a short distance before setting her down.

"Make it quick."

The blindfold was pulled from her face and blue eyes squinted as she faced utter darkness.

Then her sight adjusted and she let out a gasp of horror, despite everything.

She was in a room, floored with wooden boards and peeling wallpaper; a single mirror on the wall and no other objects. The window was boarded up and just underneath it was no other than Edward Elric, hands chained in front of him and with his back resting against the wall, a blindfold around his eyes.

Still. Completely still, except for the regular sinking and rising of his chest.

_He was alive._

Winry's knees almost gave way and she stumbled a few steps, landing in front of her- _her alchemist, her other half, her everything_ - and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

She felt his body jerk with surprise but it didn't take long for him to relax as he recognized the feel of her body, her warmth and her smell.

"Winry..."

Tears began to fall down her face and she clung to him, so relieved, so full of hope and such an seemingly endless joy that kicked all of the despair and gloom out of her heart, replacing it with pure and utter love.

"Oh god, you're alive, you're _alive_..."

Then she realised that there was shouting behind her and her eyes snapped open.

"It's her! It's his girlfriend! She tricked us!"

It was time to find out just exactly who these kidnappers were.

A quick turn and she slowly released her arms from Ed, her icy gaze falling on the pair of thin yet tall figures in the darkness.

The weirdest thing was that even in the shadowed room she could see their eyes; one red and one green.

And oh, they were full of such anger and hate and _fury._

And for a moment, it terrified her. Then she remembered who she was and what lay in her heart now, and what they had done to her. What they had to her beloved.

One breath was all that was needed.

"You both... _deserve to die_."

* * *

**SHORTER CHAPTER IS ALMOST AS SHORT AS ED. ALMOST.**

**Ahhhh yes. I'm changing it from my dream because well, what happened in my dream when Winry found Ed is kind of angsty and I'm not sure how to work it out.**

**I WANT MORE FLUFF. I'M NOT THAT MUCH OF AN ANGST WRITER! I WRITE FLUFFF.**

**ANYWAY. Next installment coming soon ~  
**


	5. Chapter 5: Fire & Ice

**_I n f l u e n c e_**

**_Chapter 5: Fire & Ice  
_**

"You both... _deserve to die_."

The words hung in the air like some sort of poisonous gas and she heard a sharp intake of breath beside her.

Nothing happened.

Absolutely nothing. At all. Her words had no effect.

Well, that was going to mess up her plans.

Instead the two figures - Winry could see them getting closer now and realised that they were dressed all in black, dark straight hair hanging down to their thighs - one male and one female getting closer, anger flooding their faces.

"You don't trick the Malus. We gave you a chance, you pathetic human and you've gone and..." The female's voice hissed to a close as a shadow appeared in the doorway behind her. They turned. And then swiftly moved out of the way.

Winry's first impression was how she was dressed; black, leather-like but thin armour tightly clenched to her body, belts hanging round her waist as her bare feet slapped against the floor.

Then there were her eyes.

Same as the others: one a deep emerald green and the other a rich firey red. But these were the eyes that even the most cold-hearted, merciless, violent serial killer on the whole of Earth couldn't ever come close to having.

She was almost impossibly pale, practically white, her slender fingers curling and uncurling by her sides.

And oh, those eyes just stared into Winry's ice-blue ones and they kept her there, frozen stiff.

_She couldn't move._

"So this is the one who he's been holding in his heart, all this time..."

Her voice was different from the others. It still had the same sharp edge, but, hers was an edge that was thinner than any blade, a blade that could cut through anything.

A cold touch brushed her shoulder, making Winry jump, until she realised that it was Ed, bringing her out of her frozen state.

Winry stood, facing the enemy with a look of sheer determination, sealing the stare between them with a cold gaze.

"And he in mine. You had no right to take him from me." Winry was tempted to add 'bitch' onto the end but she'd save that for later. Now was not the time to be angering these... freaks even more.

The - woman, if she could be called that - laughed softly. The laughter that was never amused, merely condescending.

"Your powers are very strange. So are his. But together, you are unstoppable. We had to stop you from destroying the universe. Are we so wrong for doing that?"

Winry felt her mouth drop a few inches and she blinked.

_Destroying... the universe? _  
Could she and Ed really do that?

Instead, she shook her head. "No. We're not that sort of people. We wouldn't ever do anything like that."

"But what if you couldn't help it? You were going to be joined in the ultimate symbol of your feelings for each other, and I have studied human life enough to know what comes after that. You will become one and then, your powers will clash and you will destroy_ everything_."

Was she talking about marriage? And...

Her cheeks burning, Winry narrowed her eyes at her.

"That's just creepy... and I know it's not true. We couldn't do that... Not at all."

And with that, she turned and spread her hands out, sending out such a rush of power that the window's glass froze and _shattered._

She didn't know how she'd done it. But that urge inside her had worked.

Her desperation to protect Ed from the glass made her stumble but there was no need; he was already stumbling to his feet, unharmed, turning his head this way and that in confusion.

Without even as much as a quick glance behind her, Winry ran, grabbing Ed's hand and pulling him out of the room into the brightness of outside- and _freedom._

Silence echoed behind her until one of the figures yanked a piece of glass out from her shoulder, a slow grin erupting across her lips as fresh blue blood travelled down her skin.

"Anya? What do we do?"

The question, directed at her, paused in the air- and then she fixed her subordinates with an cold gaze.

"We leave them. For now."

* * *

"Winry... Winry!"

They were running down urban alleyways and couldn't stop even though he was stumbling and she was dragging him along because his hands were still bound but all that matter was getting away so they couldn't take him again and-

"WINRY!"

The yell made her stop suddenly and the blonde turned, just in time for Ed to crash into her and make her fall backwards.

Pain shot up her back as she landed, groaning as she felt his weight on top of her body which, only fortunately for him, provided a soft landing.

"Win...?"

His nose was inches from hers and with a jolt of realisation- he was still blind to the world.

With a pull of his blindfold she revealed the world to him once more.

Oh and it was beautiful... Especially her smile.

"...Hey." Ed breathed.

A moment passed between them in which their eyes met and they just gazed at each other, expressions becoming so full of affection and awe that soon there was a flurry of kisses in emotion's wake.

"Oh god, I missed you so much..." She paused between pressing her lips to his as she felt his face twitch into a cringing look- his hands were still tied together and whilst their position was perfect, it was also awkward.

"Come here." She took his hands and began to tug the chains off, unbinding him after only a few minutes with a sigh of relief.

Rubbing his wrists and mumbling a 'thanks', his golden eyes found hers again and lit up.

"I'm so glad to see you again, I thought..." He paused as Winry's finger softly brushed his lips fondly.

Then she spoke. "I missed you... so much. I thought I was going to lose you, Ed... I never realised how horrible that feels. How painful."

A tear fell down her cheek, soon stopping in its watery path as a hand wiped it away.

"Shh... We're alright now. They'll never separate us again, I promise."

With a smile, Ed rose to his feet, head tilted back to search the stars above them as Winry's hand found itself by his side.

"Promise?" She sniffled, becoming the young girl that she was so many years ago; alone and afraid on that day when her parents had died.

Golden eyes gave her the same look as they had done that day. Fire had met ice and melted it down to her very core.

"I promise."

* * *

**ED AND WINRY DESERVE LOTSA FLUFF AFTER THEY'VE BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH..**

**Fluff. ~**

**By the way, if you're wondering, the Malus are my own creation; had them for a while now, lingering through this other story about my own character and yadda yadda.**

**Oh and Anya was the name of the baddie in my dream. I don't know why 'Anya' at all, I really don't. Heheh.  
**


End file.
